I recently decided it was time to upgrade from a netbook to a tablet. So I shopped around and I came across the new Nexus 7. The specs on paper are astounding; flaunting a quad-core Tegra 3 processor and one gigabyte of RAM. It can support all the games and HD movies you can throw at it; all displayed on a IPS 1280 x 800 7” screen.

When I first opened up my Nexus 7 I noticed how clean and thin Asus made the body of the tablet. It has a textured golf ball like backing. I had bought a case from Amazon, the Poetic leather case, which is a nice addition to the tablet allowing it to stand up and auto sleep/wake when the flap is closed and opened. The performance of the tablet is better than most and given its price it blows its competitors out of the water. Also worth noting is the temperature, while in hard GPU/CPU gaming it never gets above 32c. In average online surfing it hovers around 25-28c. What this means is this tablet is very efficient at temperature regulation, which while gaming is very important.

Other features it includes are the Live Wallpapers, which while they drain battery fast, are still very attractive to look at from time to time. Google also put the ability to switch between tabs on the home buttons. Instead of the standard menu button they replaced it with the “open apps” button, or tabs button as I like to call it. It makes an apps killer widget pointless, as you can quit out of any open apps with this button. One sad fact I do have in regard to supported software is Adobe Flash is no longer supported in Android 4.0+ so you won’t be able to play anything requiring flash player.

Overall the Nexus 7 is an amazing piece of technology. With its quad-core computing it is faster at opening the average app than its competitors and it doesn’t have many “force closes” while you switch between apps. I bought the 16gb version and if you decide on getting the Nexus I recommend you do the same. After adding all the apps I needed for note taking and various social networking I had taken up 4 gb. Then I threw in some music and a movie (which came with the tablet) and I’m at 8.5 gb now. The 16 gb seems like good number for the media hogs out there.

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On the main page of the software it shows a full layout of the keyboard with different profiles.

Programming page

It Allows users to change the backlighting with both the physical keyboard and the programing software

Pros:

1 button to disable the windows key

Adjustable lighting level

Easy to use macro software

Cherry MX Black Switch

On board USB 2.0 hub

Cons:

Adjusted key layout

Limited lighting option

Using USB 2.0 cable for sound

Not all mini-b to USB type A cables fit

Bottom-line

It has very good build quality with 1000Hz polling rate, which cuts down the latency and improved the performance noticeably. MEKA G-Unit’s improvement is directly made from the previous generation the MEKA G1 gaming keyboard. With 12 programmable macro keys and adjustable backlighting as well as 4 + 3 dedicated media keys greatly improves overall end-user experience.

In terms of layout Thermaltake should have kept the standard keyboard layout like the MEKA G1 to avoid end user errors.

Special thanks to Thermaltake for providing me this opportunity to preview this keyboard.

Here we have Thermaltake’s upcoming gaming keyboard, under the eSports series – MEKA G-Unit. MEKA G-Unit is a direct upgrade from the MEKA G1

This is Thermaltake’s newest and most advanced gaming keyboard out at the moment. This keyboard features up to 1000Hz polling rate, build up on the Cherry Black mechanical switches, and has advanced anti-ghosting for 46 keys.

The changes – seems like the designer relocated the [\] key and shortened the right [Shift] key. Coming from an end-user point of view, this is going to cause a lot of the problems during daily usage. Mostly because fast typers use their pinky and/or ring finger for the right [Shit] key, almost every time typing the [?] and [|] would be added while using this keyboard.

With lighting in the dark

On screen icons with software

It will come with ONE support CD which includes the software to program the 12 programmable macro keys along with on screen indication icons.

One key switching from normal mode to gaming mode, which allow users to disable Windows key and enable 3 different selectable macro profiles.

It is a very wise idea to use the standard push buttons for all the on and off switches instead of physical sliding switches for a longer life span.

4+3 dedicated media keys. (With on screen icons)

It is very nice to have a section of the keyboard that’s dedicated for multimedia function, instead of having to press more than one key to play, pause and skip music during gaming.

Continued in next post….

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Windows 7 was a vast upgrade from windows Vista but some people still viewed XP as the superior Windows OS. The main problem with windows operating systems is that the security is as good as swiss cheese and often uses up large quantities of system resources.

The computer I tested the consumer release on is the HP Mini 210-1092dx. I’ve tested many operating systems on it and can safely say Windows 8 is a great solution for this little netbook.

Of the many problems users faced in earlier releases of Windows for this netbook, the only problem I had during it’s testing was the screen resolution. Microsoft, as of now, is not catering to the netbook crowd and did not allow apps to be used on resolutions smaller than 720 in height.

As a solution to this problem you can find ways to edit the registry value to force windows 8 to use a higher resolution.

The startup time is reduced when compared against Windows 7. Average boot up time for my netbook was around 30 seconds. Windows 7 Ultimate x86 on my netbook took closer to a minute or more.

After the startup you’re greeted with the logon screen, a background with the time/day, and asking you to sign into a windows account (Windows Live username/password works).

After you have been granted access the signature Windows 8 “Live Tiles” appear. They are apps like you would find on a phone or similar to what you would find in the Joli cloud OS. The “Store” is where you will find apps to download. If you can’t find an app for something you use to have under Windows 7, such as disc cleanup or adobe Photoshop, you can go click the “Desktop” app. It will bring up something very familiar, the classic Windows Start/task bar. Here you can install any program you want, as long as it meets the generic windows requirements.

If you would like to try out the Consumer Release of Windows 8 here is the link: Windows 8

The Gorilla tripod has many uses and can be rigged to use many different pieces of equipment.

I do quite a bit of video shooting and editing. I’m always in need of new lights and better equipment; enter the Joby Gorilla light.

I acquired this LED light for $15 and it has a claimed battery life of 20 hours on full blast.

The features of this inexpensive light are astonishing. It has a dim knob to control light levels, a Gorillapod on which it is mounted for creatie light placement. The battery requirements are just three AA’s. The coolest feature about this light is that it has magnetic feet. The magnetic feet will allow you to use it for changing the oil in your car, working on a computer, and of course shooting video in low light cramped areas.

Overall the Joby Gorillapod light is a very useful piece of equipment. Everyone should have some form or variation of this light. For whatever application you need it for, it will perform spectacularly!

I recently needed a new keyboard and mouse. So, I did some research and decided upon the HP “Wireless classic desktop” combo. It contained a generic keyboard and mouse sending a signal to a single USB receiver.

The Keyboard Has the usual key layout with a number pad to the right. Hot keys are located to the left and right. The left side has buttons for: Computer, Internet Home, Mail, Calculator, and Search. The right side has the Media keys for play/pause, stop, mute, and volume up/down.

The feel of the keyboard is great for a low-cost alternative and noise level during typing is minimal, not as quiet as a slim keyboard but not as bad as the $5.00 generic competition.

The Mouse is amazing for the price and has a button for turning it on/off to conserve battery life. The sensitivity is a bonus as well, it’s very responsive during game play or generic computer usage.

The only down fall of this combo is the keyboard sensitivity. During fast typing it will occasionally leave out a letter or two. Most of the time this occurs during a pause or break in which you don’t type for a few minutes.

Price for the HP classic desktop combo was $30.00.

My final judgment for this review is you get what you pay for. It’s a great setup, but does have a few glitches.

Most of you guys don’t really know me yet. My name is Tu Fu (yeah for real, no BS!). I am from Brentwood TN. I like to build random stuff and link them up with my central mainframe aka my big server and play ground.
Here is a little project I have done not terribly long ago.

System Setup. (#1023000)
Atom 330
BOXD945GCLF2D
1x2GB Gskill Pi 1066 (with out heatsink wouldn’t fit with heatsink)
120W Power supply
1x 80GB 7200RPM 2.5in HDD for OS
2x 1TB 7200RPM for file (the one hanging out side of the case)

This rig mainly used to manage my school work and keep my projects on file so I can access it anytime and anywhere I want.

The motherboard is BOXD945GCLF2D; it’s got absolutely no overclocking ability at all. Therefore, instead of benching it and playing around with it I got a 120W case and turned it into a Micro server code name Server Underground.

Here is an idea of how TINY this board is.

Even though the computer was not overclocked at all I still want to keep it as cool as it can be. If you didn’t know, Tennessee is in the south. It’s kind of hot as hell in the summer time :banghead:
So I remembered I have 10 of those full copper CoolerMaster NB/SB coolers.

And as you can see, after installing the CoolerMaster “CPU” cooler
there wasn’t a fan on the CPU heatsink before!
The one fan is it’s Northbridge and the black heatsink is the Southbridge